12 killed as pipeline vandals and policemen engage in shootout

About 12 people including three policemen were on Thursday feared killed as suspected pipeline vandals engaged the police in a bloody clash.

Eight members of the vandals reportedly lost their lives in the battle which lasted for more than 40 minutes.

It was gathered that operatives of the Inspector General of Police Task Force on pipeline vandalism had gone on a surveillance tour of Igando when the hoodlums attacked them.

It was learnt that scores of vandals were on operation with some of them strategically placed to ward off disturbance from the police or any other group.

The vandals were in the thick of siphoning petroleum product from the pipeline when the policemen, said to be from Abuja, swooped on them.

It was further gathered that the vandals had, on sighting the policemen, opened fire on them and the policemen responded, resulting in a fierce gun battle.

Efforts to speak with the image maker in charge of the state police command, Kenneth Nwosu, failed as calls to his mobile phone line were not answered

Credit: Olalekan Olabulo/Tribune